GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE BILL JOHNSON RECEIVES IMPORTANT
ENDORSEMENT FROM HIGHLY DECORATED WAR VETERAN
““To take a stand for freedom and justice of another country at that age when America was not even at war, and to be the man he is today—one who still understands the high price of freedom
and has continued to display the courage to stand up for what’s right—Bill Johnson is
the kind of leader America needs today.”
Montgomery, AL, Feb. 7, 2010 – GOP gubernatorial candidate Bill Johnson received a major campaign endorsement today from Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub (Ret) during the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) 2702 Huntsville District Meeting.
John K. Singlaub was a highly decorated Office of Special Services officer and Major-General in the US Army and a founding member of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with a military career spanning 40 years.
Singlaub was parachuted behind German lines in Europe in order to prepare the French Resistance fighters for the D-Day invasion. He headed CIA operations in postwar Manchuria during the Red Chinese revolution, led troops in the Korean War, managed the secret war along the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Vietnam and worked with the Contras in Nicaragua.
It was during his work with the Contras that Gen. Singlaub first met Bill Johnson in 1985. Johnson is the son of a career Army soldier and grew up at Ft. Benning and other military bases. When the Communist Sandinistas took control of Nicaragua, Johnson responded to President Ronald Reagan’s call to action and volunteered for eight months working as a medic with the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters (Contras) in their struggle against Communism in Nicaragua. (Some of Bill Johnson’s experiences and photos with the Contras are published at his website here:
http://billjohnson.org/contras.asp)
Gen. Singlaub said he is proud to endorse Johnson’s candidacy for governor. “I was impressed with Johnson’s commitment in the fight against Communism when he was a young man of only 25 years old,” said Singlaub. “To take a stand for freedom and justice of another country at that age when America was not even at war, and to be the man he is today—one who still understands the high price of freedom and has continued to display the courage to stand up for what’s right—that is the kind of leader America needs today. I am honored to endorse Bill Johnson as Alabama’s next governor and have no doubt he will continue the good fight for freedom and justice for all people, including Alabama’s weakest and strongest citizens.”
General William Westmoreland described Singlaub as a "true military professional" and "a man of honest, patriotic conviction and courage.” Congressman Henry J. Hyde, (Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence Committees), described Singlaub as "a brave man, a thorough patriot, and a keen observer"—someone who had been "in the center of almost every controversial military action since World War II".
Gen. Singlaub authored “Hazardous Duty – An American Soldier in the Twentieth Century,” an autobiography that chronicles his more than forty years in the center of the hot and cold wars. Singlaub’s book was characterized by best-selling author Tom Clancy as “the odyssey of an American patriot.”
During his military service, Singlaub was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Commendation Medal and the Purple Heart. His foreign decorations include the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and Bronze Star devices, British Mention in Despatches Oak Leaf, as well as decorations from China, the Netherlands and the Republic of Vietnam.
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Major General John K. Singlaub endorses
GOP candidate Bill Johnson for Governor
Major General John K. (Jack) Singlaub
Bill Johnson, former director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) is a Republican Candidate for Alabama Governor in 2010. Johnson has been a member of Governor Riley's cabinet since 2005 and led Riley's grassroots efforts for his successful races for Congress in 1998 and Governor in both 2002 and 2006. He was the Governor's representative on the Appalachian Regional Authority (a 13-state coalition) and the Delta Regional Authority (an 8-state regional effort). Johnson has worked with state and local-level economic and workforce development efforts; was instrumental in launching the Black Belt Action Commission, of which he was director during the program's initial two-years; was active in launching the Rural Action Commission; and was the impetus for development of the Community Prison Re-entry (CPR) Network. Johnson, the son of a career military and civil servant, is a native of Birmingham. He and his wife, Kathy, live in Prattville and are the parents of three children.